The Other One
by endless.aozora
Summary: She has always been the 'other one'. She is the other sibling of Sabaku no Gaara. She is the other one in Shikamaru's heart apart from his wife. But then again, Sabaku no Temari never believed in happily ever after.


The Other One

She has always been the 'other one'. She is the _other_ sibling of Sabaku no Gaara, she is the _other_ child of the Yondaime Kazekage. She is the _other _one in Shikamaru's heart apart from his wife. But then again, Sabaku no Temari never believed in happily ever after.

* * *

The first time she saw her was on his wedding day. She was seated next to Sakura admiring the decorations when she entered. She was in a flowing baby pink, velvet dress with canary yellow flowers pinned to her wavy brown shoulder length hair. A smile graced her lips which matched the shimmering rose tint of her cheeks. Dark marscara lined her dark blue, almost violet pupils, enhancing the joy reflected in her eyes. Smiling weakly, Temari gazed at the bride as she advanced down the aisle.

The colours that the girl wore were too bright, too happy, and too innocent for Temari's taste. The dress was too pink, and too girly, but Temari couldn't deny that the girl looked beautiful in her wedding gown. Temari winced at the sparkly, lacy dress. From the corner of her eye, she saw Tenten, a few rows away from her, mirroring her actions. The girl removed the bouquet of light purple lilacs from her hands and took the Shikamaru's hands.

A smile rested on Temari's lips throughout the wedding. The small smile didn't reach her eyes, but she was happy. She was sharing the joy that was depicted on Shikamaru's face. From the first glance of the decorations, Temari knew Shikamaru had nothing to do with the planning of the wedding. It would had been too troublesome to him, but turning up on time and the sincere smile on his face proved to Temari that he was in love with the girl.

It wasn't until the reception that Temari had a chance to talk to Shikamaru. "Congratulations!" she greeted the couple.

"Temari? I didn't know you were coming" The small smile returned to Temari's face. 'I wish I brought my fan to hit him,' She silently thought, hiding her rage.

"Really… I didn't know either. Gaara suddenly ordered me to come to Konoha."

She didn't mention how she met Sakura at the gates and was informed that she was to attend Shikamaru's wedding. Temari had felt shock and anger consume her. 'That bastard didn't even bother to tell me himself,' she had growled to herself, her fists clenched, planning how to murder him with her fan on their next encounter. She felt as if she was burning inside, but she felt too weak to protest when Sakura had dragged her out shopping for a suitable outfit before returning her to her hotel room.

"Ino planned the whole wedding with Momoko-chan," Shikamaru said, moving his head to indicate his newly wedded wife.

Temari smiled at the girl, shaking her hand. 'Momoko…eh…momoko means peach, it suits her…,'

"Sabaku no Temari," she introduced herself, giving the girl a large smile.

"Tanaka Momoko," the girl replied giggling, " or Nara Momoko"

Temari faked a large smile and glanced over their shoulders, as Momoko nudged her husband playfully. Behind the couple, she saw Tenten dancing with the Hyuuga prodigy. 'So lucky…' she thought. "Troublesome woman," she heard Shikamaru grumble. Temari had froze at those words. She was not used to hearing them, apart from when he was addressing her or when Ino was annoying him. Her face resumed the small smile as the shock passed within seconds. 'I shouldn't be surprised… after all she is his wife now,'

"Temari-san, are you the Kazekage, Sabaku no Gaara's sister?" Momoko asked curiously. Temari nodded. 'Sabaku no Gaara's sister,' she replayed in her mind with a small frown. It wasn't that Temari didn't like being linked to Gaara, in fact she was very proud of her younger brother, but it seemed that people always had to link her with someone. From the day she was born, she was known as the Yondaime Kazekage's daughter. When Gaara begun his killing sprees, she was known as the Monster Gaara's older sister. She was used to living all her life in another's shadow, but nevertheless, it still annoyed the hell out of her.

"I heard from Chouji-kun that you and your brother are pretty close with Shikamaru-kun's friends. It must be great to be a ninja, you get to know people everywhere," Temari gave the fantasising girl a tight smile, 'you also get to kill people everywhere,' she thought.

"We met each other when we were younger, during the chuunin exams," she explained. 'If this girl was marrying a ninja, she should know that ninjas were not expected to live long happy innocent lives,' Temari thought to herself, as she listened to Momoko talk about ninjas like a child would about their favourite toy.

"Is the Kazekage-sama really strong? I heard that he uses sand to fight and to protect everyone," Temari raised her eyebrows, she couldn't understand why Shikamaru wanted to marry a normal civilian. Shikamaru was a genius from a respected clan, he could get a wife with a high status easily. 'maybe this is less troublesome,'

"Momoko-chan, I think my mother is looking for you," Shikamaru interrupted, saving Temari from Momoko's rambling about Gaara. Momoko instantly turned around and went off looking for Yoshino. _Thanks…_Temari wanted to say, but instead she glared at him. "You weren't planning to invite me to your wedding," She growled, " I shouldn't had bothered saving your ass numerous times,"

"Troublesome woman," Shikamaru stared out the window, into the sky, "Ino wanted to plan the wedding and it would had been too troublesome for you to come all the way from Suna for a wedding,"

"Ino sent the invitations?"

Ino wasn't Temari's favourite person, she found her annoying and well… troublesome… The two had sandwiched Shikamaru between them for many years, but in the end, another girl seem to have won Shikamaru's heart. Tanaka Momoko. A normal girl who wasn't trained in ninja skills. Temari frowned slightly at the thought.

Losing was something that Sabaku no Temari disliked. Actually she absolutely detested it. She never lost, she had brains as well as power. The only times that she lost were when sparring with Gaara and the time during the Chuunin exam when she had to fight Shikamaru. She never even lost to Kankurou, but she wasn't sure if he was too scared to make her angry by winning.

But now Sabaku no Temari was defeated. From time to time, she would think that Shikamaru would choose Ino over her. She could understand that, even though she didn't like the thought. They had known each other since birth and it would probably less troublesome. But no. Sabaku no Temari lost to a normal civilian of Konoha, not the kunoichi that she had expected to.

Temari hated losing but she admitted defeat.

From a corner of the reception room, four pairs of eyes were glued to Temari.

"I feel sorry for her," Tenten whispered to the others, sweeping her brown hair from her eyes. Two green, dragon pins secured her hair into buns.

Sakura nodded. Being the one who met Temari at the gates, she realised that she didn't know about Shikamaru's wedding beforehand. 'It was most likely that Gaara-kun didn't want to be the one to break his sister's heart' Sakura had concluded.

"Her eyes seem so sad," Hinata pointed out.

"Well yeah, if Naruto suddenly married someone else that you've never met, you would be pretty sad," Ino retorted, earning accusing glares from the other three girls.

"She wouldn't have to be depressed if you didn't…if you didn't mess with his mind like that," Sakura glared at Ino.

The two girls were broken apart at the arrival of Temari. Temari smiled at the warmness that the Konoha girls always had. The Suna girl had always preferred her friends in Konoha then the Suna ones. The Konoha girls considered her their friend for who she was, while in Suna her so called friends all immediately lost contact with her once Gaara started killing people. When Gaara was announced Kazekage, her so-called friends came running back to her. They liked her status and her connections, not one of them had ever thought of Temari as a person.

As a child she did not understand why all the other children want nothing to do with her. She had disliked that Gaara had driven away all of her friends, but as time passed by, she learnt that those people could not be considered friends.

"Thanks for inviting me," Temari mumbled to Ino.

"Well, you are one of Shikamaru's favourite people," Ino responded, 'the one that he loves the most,' she added silently.

Temari gave them an amused glance, as Hinata, Tenten and Sakura sent death glares at Ino.

"Sorry," Ino stammered. It was a barely audible whisper. Temari's brow furrowed in confusion.

"about what?"

"Shikamaru" Ino simply replied, her voice even quieter, "He loves you a lot you know…but I kind of messed with his brain… a bit… and he suddenly decides to get married to that girl" _that girl…_

Temari frowned. _Why are you telling me this?_ she wanted to screamed, she had just started nursing her heart back together. "I don't understand," she whispered instead. Sabaku no Temari was a strong, fearless kunoichi, who never showed any signs of weakness. Then, why does she feel that her heart is slowly being peeled open like an onion?


End file.
